Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Deterring Hackers

Behind every DoS attack or any other harmful Internet-related threat is usually a single person or group of people responsible for starting the malicious activity. Discovering the identity of these electronic thieves isn't easy. Recent data suggests that as many as 92 percent of U.S. hacking incidents originate from other countries. So, what — or who — exactly is a hacker? In general, a hacker is anyone not authorized or given permission to intrude on or gain access to your information systems. Hackers are basically opportunists.

Some hackers are motivated by the challenge of merely trying to break through a security system and then bragging that they did it. Those hackers are typically attracted to large, high-profile, or government sites. Another growing trend is referred to as “hactavism,” in which the hacker purports to break into sites for a greater good or for some cause that the hacker believes needs attention. An example of this is Julian Paul Assange, the editor of the online site WikiLeaks. He gained worldwide attention as an Internet activist who hacked into Web sites of governments, politicians, and major corporations to illegally obtain potentially scathing documents that he, in turn, leaked to the public. This illustrates the point that your organization can be vulnerable to hackers not only for financial gain but simply for to get access to your company data or to draw attention.

For most online businesses, the threat of hackers is simply based ...